- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Ebury Press; 1st Edition edition (7 Oct 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0091870755
- ISBN-13: 978-0091870751
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 356,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
He wore the hat of mirrors; he had the platform boots--but the world envied Noddy Holder for something more. As singer in the 70's band Slade, frontman Noddy and his less exotically monickered chums Jim, Dave and Don lived a life of parties and travel, fans and fun. It was a well-named existence. It was Glam Rock. Who's Crazee Now is the story of those times.
Written as told to music journalist Lisa Verrico, Noddy Holder's autobiography is rich in his trademark humour. As the pages trace a life from playground ambition to the fulfilment of dreams, Holder's no-nonsense black country tone rarely wavers as he remembers everyday old days; shopping at Freddie Mercury's market stall, drinking with Phil Lynott, and singing with Sammy Davis Jr.
This is a definitive source of information for Slade fans. Although certainly a memoir rather than critical study (and all the more entertaining for that), a mention of each single, album and tour is included at the appropriate point in Slade history alongside recollections of the band's opinion of each. Noddy's description of the decline in Slade's popularity is sobering and his portrayal of the subsequent breakdown in relations between the band and management seems honest and true. While an occasional frank mention is made of past rock'n'roll excesses, the author has chosen not to write an exposé of the pop world at that time. Instead Noddy Holder has written the story he's sure his fans would want to hear--the inside story of Slade. --Helen Lamont
Product Description
As lead singer and frontman of Slade, Noddy Holder was one of the most successful musicians of the 1970s and 1980s. He tells his life story, from growing up in the Midlands to all the excesses of glam rock, and is currently busy carving out a new career for himself in the TV sitcom, "The Grimleys".
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Noddy comes over as honest and sincere in this simply written tale of hard up, hard living and hard rocking life before and after Slade. There are a few dodgy moments particularly during his Hamburg days when money was tough, but the true feeling of the man, his life and his music comes over brilliantly. If you liked Slade in the early seventies then this is an absolute must, if you like Noddy the man from his work on TV and radio today then it's a facinating read of his earlier life. It inspired me to root out a video of Slade in Flame for the nostalgia! (not an easy task I can tell you, but I found a Slade fanatic over the net who was able to send me a copy!)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
At the end of the day I couldn't but help feel a bit disappointed with this book; one suspects it was put out in a hurry with the MBE forthcoming, there are some typos and there should have been more photographs. The early years of Nod's childhood are fascinating but much of the Slade coverage and Nod's relationships with his bandmates is telling by what is left unsaid and reading between the lines. Most perplexing of all is the lack of detail concerning Nod's writing partnership with Jim Lea who comes across as a remote figure. Considering the two of them wrote over 200 songs together, there is very little on their working methods and they don't seem to be close at all. And the last years of the band are particularly strange, making one wonder what really happened; none of it seems to really add up. Maybe they all just got sick of each other and just drifted apart.......and yet....maybe Don Powell's autobiography if it appears will cast more light.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Noddy Holder, unlike his boy-band successors, has waited to pass 50 before producing this autobiography. Largely for this reason the book is a good and thoughtful read. He's able to contrast two relatively brief periods of chart success with long years on the road both before and afterward, with plenty of racy anecdote about rock and roll's characters from the 60s to the 90s.
Holder joined what was to become Slade in 1966, but they didn't manage a hit in England until covering Bobby Marchan's 'Get down and get with it' in 1971. This section of the book is probably the most interesting- it illustrates very well the frustrations of an up-and-coming band. The lads tried changes of management, musical style and headgear before finally settling on the hard-driving yet melodic songs that made them England's top chart act after the Beatles split. Ironically, their earliest surviving TV appearance is of a skinhead Noddy singing Paul's 'Martha my Dear'! Like many of his contemporaries, Holder faced family pressure to get a 'proper' job. His father had always supported his musical career, but put off watching the band live until they were celebrating an umpteenth Number 1. Totally bemused by the experience, Holder senior never attended another gig!
England in the mid-1970s was suffering both economic downturn and a surfeit of overblown rock bands with three-hour long drum solos. Slade's shows offered old-fashioned entertainment value, so they were able to adapt when punk swept the old order away. They'd already produced the downbeat but well-received film 'Slade in Flame', and when the hits stopped kept on steadily working the circuit, with regular visits to America. By 1982 the boys were the respected elder statesmen of English rock, and began to chart again while younger acts like Quiet Riot covered their songs. By this time, Holder's mirrored top hat had gone and his sideburns were only half their original length, but the voice- a throaty rasp somewhere between Little Richard and John Fogerty-was as good as ever!
Slade finally split in 1991 after 25 years. Noddy moved into broadcasting- he has his own show on Manchester's Piccadilly station- and also revived his acting career with roles in various sitcoms. He seems less comfortable with this new status, perhaps unsure how far to parody himself, and has also been criticised for making legal difficulties for his old band, who reformed without him a few years ago. But these uncertainties apart, this is a boostin' read from a real survivor of the spangled 70s!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Slade as told by Noddy Holder
This book has been lying on my Mnt TBR too long and so I decided to read it as I am having a 'biography moment'
I would want to re-title this book as 'The History of... Read more
I would want to re-title this book as 'The History of... Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2008 by Sterile
Noddy we're ALL crazy now..
This is a fun book. I was a teenager in the 70's and either you were a fan of Sweet or Slade. I liked them both but Slade was and is my favourite. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2008 by Ove Munch Thomsen
AND NOW FOR VOLUME 2
A good reference book for the average punter. But for those of us who spent Saturday nights 'cranking' Slade Alive out to an ungrateful neighborhood and waiting for the next Slade... Read more
Published on 11 Oct 2000
Gudz Wordz!
There was a holy touch while reading the words of The Very Great. Certainly Nod should have put more lines about the last years of Slade and how the most magnificient pieces of... Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2000
A must for Slade fans, but has gaps and leaves you wondering
'Cos I Love You' was the first single I ever bought, thus starting a life-long love of Slade's music; let's face it, they were a group you either loved or hated. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2000
Compelling read
As a Christmas present,this book is an absolute delight.I recieved this eye opener for christmas myself,instantly drawing me in to the world of Noddy Holder. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2000
Well done Noddy!
Having read this book I found it to be more of Slade rather than of Noddy himself. But, I still found this a fascinating read, a must for all Slade fans alike. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2000
Pretence-free memoir
As a lad growing up in Wolverhampton at the same time Slade were taking the world by storm, I thought all Wolvo bands were capable of the same. Read more
Published on 11 Dec 1999
Look wot you don
Having been a Slade fan since the beginning, I could'ent wait to get my hands on this book. I was'ent disappointed, having started to read I could not put it down. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 1999
Great book buy it, read it and enjoy it.
This was a book I found difficult to put down. I've been a fan since the begining but was still surprised to learn facts about the Nod and the others not known by an average fan... Read more
Published on 21 Nov 1999 by d.shell@virgin.net
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